The Forgotten One

So... in my mammoth holiday movie post the other day, I somehow forgot one of my most favorite Christmas movies, which always brings back memories of my childhood. I know a lot of people have never seen it or maybe never even heard of it, but ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS is one I love. (The day I found it in the $5.00 bin at Wal-Mart was the greatest day; yes, I found it in the $5.00 bin. Don't act like you never spotted one of your favorite movies haphazardly dumped in there with some garbage like From Justin to Kelly or Junior...)

The Favorite

I love Christmas.
Period.
I don't know if it's the December birthday thing or what, but I just love it.
Seriously.
I started listening to Christmas music and watched my first Christmas movie of the season the night before Halloween. I had my apartment and my mom's house decorated by November 15. I'm burning my way through my third "Smell of Christmas" candle. I'm telling you, I love it.
As much as I love the music and the lights and the smells and the excitement, the thing I probably love most is the movies. I'm a movie lover in general, but there's just something special about a Christmas movie.
So, tonight I thought I would share my favorite Christmas movies and a few favorite quotes (because y'all know there's few things I love more than a good movie quote). These are in no particularly order because, let's be honest, I love them all.

CHRISTMAS VACATION

"Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?"

"Get off me, you fungus."

"Worse? How could things get any worse? Take a look around here, Ellen. We're at the threshold of hell."

THE HOLIDAY

"Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend."

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

THE SANTA CLAUSE

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

THE POLAR EXPRESS

"But you don't want to be bamboozled. You don't want to be led down the primrose path. You don't want to be conned or duped. Hoodwinked. You don't want the wool pulled over your eyes. Railroaded. Seeing is believing. Am I right?"

"At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed it fell silient for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe."

ELF

"Don't listen to Leon. Leon's never been anywhere. He doesn't have any feet."

"It's just like Santa's workshop. Except it smells like mushrooms, and everyone looks like they want to hurt me..."

"Do you have any friends? Do you have a best friend? Does he have a big coat, too?"

WHITE CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT

HOLIDAY INN

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

LOVE ACTUALLY

"I love that word 'relationship.' Covers all manner of sins, doesn't it? I fear that this has become a bad relationship. A relationship based on the President taking exactly what he wants and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to, erm... Britain. We may be a small country, but we're a great one, too. The country of Shakespeare, Churchill, the Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter. David Beckham's right foot. David Beckhams' left foot, come to that."

"We need Kate. And we need Leo. And we need them now. Come on."

"Now which doll shall we give Daisy's little friend Emily? The one that looks like a transvestite or the one that looks like a dominatrix?"

HOME ALONE 2

"You can't be too careful when it involves underwear."

"My grandfather says if my head wasn't screwed on, I'd leave it on the school bus."

HOME ALONE

"This house is so full of people it makes me sick."

"If it makes you feel any better, I forgot my reading glasses..."

"The dope was whining about a suitcase. What was I s'posed to do? Shake his hand and say, 'Congratulations, you're an idiot'?"

"Bring me back something French!"

So, there you have it: the movies that make my holiday complete. Did I leave off any of your favorites??

Anything Goes

As students, we all have that one assignment every semester that we start to dread the minute the instructor goes over the syllabus. It may be a project, a paper, a presentation, or sometimes a combination, but the dread it creates is almost always the same.
We wonder how we will ever get it finished; we toss around ideas and brainstorm, wondering all the while just where to start; we swear this time we aren't going to put it off until the last minute; we talk to our peers about what they're doing, and then regret asking because it makes us feel further behind; we irrationally hope that the assignment will somehow be forgotten or we will just magically run out of class time and be unable to fit it in.
But somehow, days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. It's a month before finals and three weeks until that assignment is due. We set up camp at the library doing research; we frantically schedule group meetings around work for other classes, jobs, and the occasional social outing; we push through sickness; we work even when class is cancelled. We read and re-read the guidelines of the assignment, and then we read them again, just for good measure.
We edit; we count words; we copy handouts; we change the order of powerpoint slides; we hit save every four minutes. We drive ourselves crazy with proper citations and subject-verb agreements. Finally, we print off the final copy and put it into our notebook, where it will stay until tomorrow when it is finally pulled out and turned in, presented, distributed, etc.
We lie down to sleep and think, "It is finished."
We wake up thinking about it, and we check our notebook three times before we leave the house, just to make sure it's still there. We check again an hour later and one more time forty-five minutes later when our pulse starts to race. Finally we walk into that class, see that professor, and prepare to turn in that assignment. We don't even care about the grade anymore, we just want the thing taken out of our hands, and we think it might be okay if we never saw it again.
Tonight, I completed two of those assignments. Same class, same professor, same night.
My brain is mush, but I'm alive, and I feel like I could do just about anything.

Fear of Drowning

I am drowning in school work.
As evidenced by the amount of time that has passed since my last post, life is crazy busy.
Between the presentations and the papers and the group work and the reading and extra assignments, I'm not sure that I'll ever get it all done. And what makes matters worse is that all I want to do is drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies and hang out with my friends, but I hardly even have time to think!
On the upside, it will all be over in two-and-a-half weeks, and I will finally be able to really enjoy my favorite time of year and a much-needed break.
But for now I'll keep trying to take deep breaths to keep from suffocating under the weight of all that I still have left to do.

Crimes of Fashion

WARNING:
What follows is probably one of the most superficial and unimportant writings I've ever produced. The following statements are merely my opinions and observations; they are not meant to offend but simply to entertain.
Thank you, Management

I look at the world like it is a story I'm in the process of writing. Each person I pass or come into contact with is a character, and the clothes they wear are their costumes. Most of their costumes are appropriate and fit into the storyline, but a few catch my curiousity and make me wonder just what these characters were thinking when they made their way to wardrobe that day. Here are a few observations I've made or thoughts I've had recently.
I've seen the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly.
Enjoy.
Shorts can be too short--for both girls and guys.
Aviators should not be worn universally; not all faces can handle them.
Say what you will, naysayers, but a confidently-worn pink shirt on a guy will usually get a thumbs-up from me.
Pajamas are not to be worn in public. The farthest they should stray from your bedroom is possibly the late night drive-thru window at Taco Bell after you've picked up a load of people at the bar.
Not every girl is built to wear skinny jeans.
When you think you can "get away with it" (last night's hair, makeup, etc.), you probably can't.
Chuck Taylors are so cool.
No one believes your beach-worthy tan is natural in January.
I am wary of any male who uses more products in his hair than I do.
There is definitely such a thing as too much makeup. There is also such a thing as too little.
A guy usually can't go wrong in a classic button-down, but I always prefer them tucked in.
If you're going to color your hair, do it regularly.
I love a good pair of cowboy boots with jeans, but I just can't seem to get on board with the cowboy boots/dress combo.
Facial hair is case-sensitive and unique to each individual. Grow it at your own risk. (I really feel the same way about long hair on guys.)
I am huge fan of the vintage/thrift store movement. I do, however, feel that it's possible to get a little carried away...
If you wear a dark suit, wear dark socks. Why is this so difficult?
Uggs... ugh.
Baseball caps usually give guys a sort of innocence that is refreshing.
I am embarrassed for people I see wearing denim-on-denim (affectionately referred to as the "Mexican tuxedo").
I will forever be envious of those girls who so easily mastered the art of the "messy ponytail," a style that continues to allude me.
Cargo pants/shorts are never appropriate. The same goes for "carpenter" anything.
Too much jewelry can ruin an outfit.
Obnoxiously bathing in cologne is offensive to all of my senses.
As a general rule, I believe girls should avoid wearing hats. The occasional baseball cap to class I understand, but beyond that I don't really support it. Fedoras, cowboy hats, newsboys, toboggans, etc.,... no, ma'am.
I love when guys wear glasses.
Crocs are the bane of my existence. If you do not work in the healthcare profession, you have no excuse subjecting your feet to such humiliation.
Whoever invented the short-sleeved dress shirt should be imprisoned or stoned or maimed... or at least made to explain himself.
If you are over the age of 7, you should not even look twice at the table of graphic tees. No matter what.
A t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans will forever be the uniform of the college co-ed (graduate students included...).
Finally, leggings are not pants.
So, there you have it. Today's installment of life according to, well, me.
I read my monthly issue of InStyle, but I am by no means a fashionista. In fact, I have committed a number of the aforementioned fashion "no-no's" myself. I am consantly amused, however, as I walk around campus and various articles of clothing pique my interest, and you know how I love to share all of life's little amusements with you. I can't help but wonder what I'll see tomorrow that raises my brow in curiousity and elicits a quiet chuckle from my lips...

A Political Mess

I planned to make it through this Presidential election without sharing my "two-cents," but, as it turns out, I've got a few things I just want to say.
I'm not going to get particularly political or voice my opinions on the candidates.
Really.
But as the polls continue to close across the United States, I've just got a few things I want to voice.
I believe that it is the responsibility of every American to do his or her civic duty and vote in both local and national elections.
HOWEVER...
I also believe it is the civic duty of those same Americans to be knowledgeable about what the candidate they cast their votes for represents. Not knowing what you are voting for is just the same as tying on a blindfold before you enter the voting booth and letting the pen fall where it may. I don't claim to be a political genius (far from it), but I believe the candidates I vote for are, to my knowledge, the most qualified for the job at hand.
In this ecosystem of academia by which I find myself presently surrounded, I was astounded today at the quantity of incorrect information being thrown around. As I mentioned above, there are many things about politics I know I do not know. For that reason, I try to keep my mouth shut, as I was taught, like many Southern ladies, that politics has no place in polite conversation. Today there were times when I practically had to bite off the end of my tongue to keep from saying something I knew I should keep to myself. From Roe v. Wade to redistribution of funds to tax cuts to waiting periods for handguns... there was misinformation flying all over the place from Republicans and Democrats, alike.
Also, while this issue is nothing new, I was irritated by the number of people using their popularity and status to influence those who were unable to make up their minds for themselves. Be it actors, musicians or bosses, I believe that politics is one of those issues that belongs in its' own category. I applaud pop culture icons like Carrie Underwood, who encouraged all Americans to get to the polls and cast their vote but did not endorse a specific candidate.
Between the pseudo-Liberals jumping on the blue bandwagon just because it's in style right now to do so and the naive, straight-ticket conservatives who voted red just because that's what their parents did, I really don't know which one makes me more embarrassed for my own generation.
Here is a quote I overheard today from an acquaintance close to my own age (and this is just one example; the generalizations crossed party lines, age lines, socioeconomic lines, and everything in between):
"Poor, uneducated people always vote Republican."
Need I say more?
I am stepping down from my soapbox now, as all around me the ignorant continue to masquerade as the informed.
It's going to be a long night.